THE WONDERFUL HEALING POWER OF NATURE

. I went for an easy 5km recovery run yesterday afternoon.  It was around 5:00pm and the sun was shining brightly and the shadows and leaves were dancing in the breeze.   There was a coolish breeze though, a sure sign and reminder we are on the last days of summer.   The route I chose for my easy recovery run, was along the Steve Bauer trail that begins on the Port Robinson Road, just across from Station Street.   The first 1km is under a wonderful canopy of trees, and here and there one could see the red leaves of the Sumac bushes peeking through the green, another reminder we are in the last days of summer. Next Monday, September 23rd, marks the first day of the Fall Season or    Autumnal equinox.  Here in Niagara, the "splendour" of Fall makes it my very favourite time of the year. The dictionary defines the word "splendour" as brilliant or gorgeous in appearance and/or in colouring.  Splendour can als...

"The signs of God's presence in creation -- trees and flowers, sun and stars, snow and rain, and more -- remind us that God's first language is nature and God calls us to love and cherish the good creation." ~ Henri Nouwen ~ Discernment: Reading the Signs of Daily Life How do the sun and stars, plants and animals, and natural rhythms speak of God's glory, wonder and ways?I must admit that it is easier for me to read words on a page than to listen for God's revelation in the natural world and events. ~ Henri Nouwen ~ "While it is true that God is a hidden presence,  we have only to let  nature speak to us  about the God who is everywhere." Henri Nouwen in "The Genese Dairy" "It is remarkable to see how prayer and contemplation open our eyes to nature,  and how nature makes you more attentive to divine guidance.   I once saw  contemplation as something done best in a monastery or behind a closed door.   N...

. Yesterday, Saturday morning, in the pouring rain, I ran a 5 km road race and came first in my age category.   Well I was the only runner in my age category, but a win is a win, right, eh? I tell you that, for as a runner for over forty years, my all time favourite verse  is from the New Testament, the Book of Hebrews, chapter 12, verses 1-3 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything  that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked  out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him  he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. John O'Donohue, who writes about Celtic Spirituality notes that  "Inspiration is always a surprising visitor."   How right he is!  The other day in conversation with someone, h...

. ~~~~~~~AN ALMOST SIXTY SIX SECOND SERMON~~~~~~ As the insightful John O'Donohue observes "Inspiration is always a surprising visitor." One of my favourite preachers is Frederick Buechner. His sermons (and quotes) always  have something deep to say to the listener, and apply easily to everyday ordinary living. My very favourite Frederick Buechner quote is one which I have used in a couple of sermons  along the way, and serves to remind both the preacher and listener how we often save and  savour our "best" anger for those whom we say we love.  Anger divides and destroys. Perhaps, quite possibly, the very first anger management seminar was led by Saint Paul  himself as he taught the Ephesian Christians a thing or two about anger, some 2000 years ago.  Paul wrote, "In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down  while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold." To sit and listen to a sermon...

. The people who have been most helpful in my personal journey of seeking and understanding "faith" are those special individuals who have allowed themselves to be deeply vulnerable in my presence, as they have shared their dark valleys and brokenness ... and also their joys, and yet, in the midst of such pain and suffering lay claim not only to their faith in Christ, but of the presence of Christ, who walked with them through the dark valley;  some people even felt as though they were being carried. As John O'Donohue reflectively writes in Eternal Echoes, "Post-modern culture is deeply lonely. This loneliness derives in large part from the intense drive to avoid suffering and pain and the repudiation of commitment. People relentlessly attempt to calm their inner turbulence by all manner of therapy and spirituality. They seek refuge in each new programme or method as if it offered a final resolution. Yet so many of these programmes have no earth beneath...

. While driving along one of the St. Catherines' "Garden City" streets a few years ago, I saw a sign outside a Church which boldly stated, "Thinking Seeds.  The appointed Gospel reading for that particular Sunday was The Parable of the Sower as told in Matthew's Gospel.   . That Church sign got me to thinking thoughts about “seeds” and recalling  a wonderful story of how we often sow seeds and never know the outcome. . H.L. Gee, a prolific English writer, in one of his books relates this story. In the Church  where Gee worshipped there was a lonely old man, he was known as “Old Thomas”.  Thomas had outlived all his friends and hardly anyone knew him. Thomas died.  H.L. Gee had the feeling that there would be no one to go to the funeral so he  decided to go, so that someone might follow old Thomas to his last resting place. There was no-one at Old Thomas' funeral; and it was a wild, wet and windy day. The funeral procession re...

It is perhaps the most challenging story in the Bible.  It is a story of a family.   It is a story about favouritism.    It is a story about forgiveness.  It is a story of how God work's through us to effect reconciliation, with each other and with God. It is a compelling story about ourselves! . Jacob was the father of twelve sons and one daughter that we know of.  Jacob was the younger twin brother of Esau.  They both competed for their parent's affections as Jacob was his mother's favourite and Esau was his father's favourite.  Jacob and Esau were adversaries, even in their mother's womb, and throughout their life.  They really could not live together.  Their relationship is a compelling one too.  However, it is Joseph, Jacob's favourite son, born in Jacob's old age,  who is our focus.  As noted, Joseph was born to Jacob in his old age, and thus was highly favoured by his father, who had twelve sons and...